States Share $600 Million in Federal Transportation Grants

Forty states shared 77 grants totaling $600 million in the second round of a special federal stimulus program designed to boost transportation innovation under the auspices of the Department of Transportation.

The TIGER — Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery — grants were awarded Oct. 20 for programs such as electric vehicle-charging stations on Interstate 5 in Oregon, intermodal rail projects in Miami and Los Angeles, and traditional projects like bridges in Seattle and Ann Arbor, Mich., and a highway widening in West Virginia.

DOT said that nearly 1,000 applications were submitted for the grants. Last year there were 1,500 applications for $1.5 billion in grants.

This year about 29% of the grant money went for road projects, 26% for transit, 20% for rail projects, 16% for ports, 4% for bicycle and pedestrian projects, and 5% for planning projects, DOT said.